The Bugle - 08 July 05
In news this week
Regional body stories
- Telling new stories through old props
- Busting a myth!
- Central Queensland launches its regional information system
- Regional communicators continue their commitment
Government updates
- Australian Government checking regional body governance
- 100 005 hectares already allocated by tree clearing-ballot
- Plans change for Cairns and the Whitsundays' coastal areas
Natural resources news
- Scientists get to bottom of deep drainage
- Two new weed threats under investigation
- Host needed for 2007 Queensland Landcare Conference
- Queensland producers strike deals at Hong Kong trade fair
- QPWS takes mixed approach to reducing marine wildlife tragedies
- Whales are 'off the hook' for the time being
- 'Digital skins' set to revolutionise marine science
- Reduce your energy use in the office
Telling new stories through old props
Many people regard old news as old hat; not worth saving; bound for the bin! But a new Landcare Discovery Centre competition encourages a much more imaginative approach in dealing with yesterday's news.
The Re-Creation Fashion and Art Competition invites school-age students to use recycled materials to wear and display at the Discovering Landcare Conference in Toowoomba in October.
The ‘Stylish Prints' category of the fashion show focuses on re-using printed paper to create an outfit worthy of the catwalk. Other fashion show categories include ‘Out There Outfits' and ‘Fantastic Plastic'.
Art competition categories cover sculpture, photography and painting allowing ample opportunities for students to showcase their artistic recycling genius. There are cash prizes for students and the winning schools will receive native plants.
The Landcare Discovery Centre is an educational service provided to the community by the Queensland Murray-Darling Committee. Visit the Landcare Discovery Centre web site or phone 4637 6201 for more information.
Busting a myth!
One of the common myths about water in South West Queensland is that when it rains or rivers flood the water runs straight back into the Great Artesian Basin, the regions primary water source.
South West NRM and Murweh Shire Council launched their Waterwise South West Queensland campaign, as part of Queensland Resources Week. Using funding from NR&M's Community Awareness Grants they developed a brochure to bust myths such as this.
The brochure also contains information about the importance of saving water, how to do it and identifies the top 10 waterwise plants for the Murweh Shire area.
Whizzy Waterdrop visited the main street of town and the Charleville State Primary School to raise awareness about the South West Queensland Waterwise campaign.
To find out what really happens to the region's flood waters, check out the free Waterwise South West Queensland brochure by emailing South West NRM, visiting South West NRM web site or phoning 4654 7382.
Central Queensland launches its regional information system
The Central Queensland Regional Information System (CQRIS), a web-based information portal, was launched in Yeppoon on 19 May.
CQRIS involves local and state government agencies and community groups. It draws together resources from many sources that impact on the region's development.
The portal focuses on socio-economic data, although a wealth of geographic information is also accessible through the system. Members manage their data and update information regularly. The system also accommodates on-line discussions and publicises events.
CQRIS is particularly interested in socio-economic data, and invite submissions of unpublished documents and other research from organisations involved in this area.
For more information email Tim Draper or phone 4938 4657, or visit the CQRIS web site.
Top
Regional communicators continue their commitment
There is strong support to continue the regional communicators' network. Every regional body communication officer participated this week in their first teleconference.
In March this year the regional communicators' network was revitalised by a two-day workshop. The group enthusiastically shared ideas and participated in presentations by other professional communicators.
At this week's first quarterly teleconference, that enthusiasm continued. Key actions arising from the meeting included developing a new media package to highlight the huge amount of good news media releases being generated by members of the group. QMDC alone has generated over 50 good news stories this year.
The group was concerned that decision makers may not be aware of this positive press. They feared that only negative issues were being picked up. They hope by making the good news stories more accessible to decision makers, such as Ministers, they will be able to turn this negative perception around.
With the end of the financial year upon us, another focus of the meeting was annual reports. A rather innovative approach was suggested by SPRA's communication manager, presenting an annual report as a poster.
The poster is a map of the catchment and the report follows the course of the river. In the headwaters are listed the values of the organisation, in the middle are the products and services and down stream are the outputs. This awareness raising approach to annual reporting is then supported by a financial statement prepared as a black and white document.
Continued capacity building of regional communication officers was also high on the agenda. The SPRA communication group will be looking into some possible training opportunities in the lead up to the next annual regional communicator's workshop.
For more information email Carl Glen or Paul Rees.
Australian Government checking regional body governance
The Australian Government will exam the governance arrangements supporting regional investment through the Natural Heritage Trust (the Trust) and the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAPSWQ).
Following a competitive tender process, WalterTurnbull, accountants and consultants, has been selected to do the evaluation. WalterTurnbull has considerable experience in the operations of these two programs.
Governance arrangements for the delivery of the Trust and NAPSWQ vary from state to state, along with the experience and capacity of the regional bodies.
Through this assessment, the Australian Government hopes to understand and improve governance arrangements.
WalterTurnbull will visit a representative group of regional bodies to look at their systems and processes and evaluating their performance before reporting to the Australian Government.
The evaluation should be completed by October. Visits to regional bodies will happen in July and August.
For more information please contact Sally Petherbridge on 02 6274 2442.
100 005 hectares already allocated by tree clearing-ballot
More than half the 200 000 hectares of land available to be cleared through the State Government's vegetation-ballot process has been allocated.
105 000 hectares of the remaining remnant vegetation available for clearing before all broadscale clearing ends in Queensland on 31 December 2006 have been allocated through the ballot.
Particular attention has been paid to expediting applications in the Mulga Lands and Channel Country, Gulf Plains and Northwest Highlands bioregions, as these areas contain some of the largest amounts of land available for clearing.
Not all of the 860 ballot applications will be successful. A total of 776 461 hectares have been sought, nearly four times the land available.
Ballot applications will continue to be assessed as quickly as possible to give successful landholders sufficient time to complete their clearing before the end of 2006.
For more information on vegetation management contact Samantha Sharpe on 3224 2252.
Plans change for Cairns and the Whitsundays' coastal areas
The Cairns area and Whitsunday marine management plans are being amended to complement the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations 1983 and Great Barrier Reef Zoning Plan 2003.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) released the Whitsundays Plan of Management in 1998 to protect and conserve the Whitsundays while allowing a range of uses. The proposed amendments increase flexibility for tour operators and will be of key interest to the Mackay Whitsunday NRM group.
The Cairns Area Plan of Management provides strategies for protecting the values and use of the offshore areas of Cairns, Port Douglas, the Ribbon Reefs, Lizard Island and the Frankland Islands. FNQNRM Ltd and the Cape York NRM group will be interested in the proposed amendments which include reviewing access restrictions of new permissions, mooring allocation and technical changes.
Public consultation on the amendments will continue until 15 July.
You can access the proposals at the GBRMPA web site.
Scientists get to bottom of deep drainage
Scientists from the Department of Natural Resources and Mines (NR&M) have added another piece to the salinity puzzle in the Queensland Murray-Darling Basin.
Despite the critical role deep drainage plays in salinity, there had been relatively few studies done in the Basin until the NR&M team began investigating how different land uses affect deep drainage.
Deep drainage (when water drains below the root zone) is one of the three precursors to dryland salinity.The other two are the presence of salt in the soil and a shallow groundwater system to trap and transport salt and water.
However, whereas salt and depth-to-groundwater are natural hazards, deep drainage is largely influenced by land use.
When rain falls, it drains through the soil, taking salt with it. By measuring the concentrations of salt in the Basin's soils at different depths, the research team has been able to deduce how quickly the water is draining below the root zone.
For the past four years, the team led by Dr Mark Silburn has taken soil-core samples and used historical rainfall figures to estimate the drainage rates at 13 sites.
They found that, in paddocks cropped for 20 to 70 years, chloride levels had changed dramatically since the land was cleared.
Rainfall does not cause deep drainage, it's when the rain falls on soil already laden with moisture, such as cropping and fallow paddocks, that problems can arise. Rising groundwater as a result of excess deep drainage may bring salts to the surface.
The researchers are producing a computerised water-balance model which predict, on a larger scale, when transported salts are likely to end up in the groundwater and possibly surface waters such as rivers.
For more information, telephone Philippa Tolmie on 4688 1429 or visit the NR&M web site.
Two new weed threats under investigation
Two new threats to Queensland's natural resources include one of the worst weeds in the United States, ‘kudzu', and gamba grass, an environmental disaster in the Northern Territory.
Kudzu, originally from Asia, costs the USA more than $50 million a year and has destroyed thousands of hectares of land. Kudzu has been detected in its early stages of spread in Queensland.
Gamba grass has tripled natural fuel loads in tropical woodland in the Northern Territory. The intense fires it creates pose a serious threat to houses and human life.
Gamba fires are predicted to completely destroy tropical woodland, transforming them into tropical grassland, wiping out millions of trees in the process. Gamba grass was imported from Africa for use as a pasture plant.
NR&M is currently collecting technical information on both gamba grass and kudzu to predict their impacts in Queensland. This information will underpin any response, possibly involving declaration as a Class 2 pest.
For further information contact Steve Csurhes on 3405 5528.
Host needed for 2007 Queensland Landcare Conference
The Toowoomba Landcare group enjoyed the challenge and experience of hosting the 2004 Queensland Landcare conference.
The 2004 conference coordinator Marien Stark says the Toowoomba Landcare Group benefited from running the conference through raising the group's profile within the NRM community.
"By raising our profile we were able to develop and maintain strong networks among the local community, NRM stakeholders and international landcarers. It also gave the Toowoomba Landcare Group a great opportunity to showcase their operations, on-ground works and key success stories in the region. Most importantly the group really benefited from the opportunity to team build by working together to run a large, challenging event successfully." Marien said.
If you are interested in raising your group's profile, the Queensland Water and Land Carers are seeking expressions of interest for Landcare and community groups involved in Landcare to host the 2007 Queensland Landcare conference and awards.
For more information please email Brenda Walhain or phone 3211 4409.
Queensland producers strike deals at Hong Kong trade fair
Queensland's natural resources producing safe and reliable food has helped reap dividends for 26 small and medium-sized Queensland businesses showcasing their goods at the international Hospitality and Food Expo (HOFEX) 2005 in Hong Kong.
Queensland businesses attending the conference were confidently predicting total sales of $4.5 million over the next 12 months as a direct result of attending HOFEX.
Dinner tables around China may soon be adorned with Queensland Baramundi and Bundaberg ginger beer.
Geoff Orpin from the Barramundi Blue aquaculture company near Ingham could hardly believe the level of interest in his fresh farmed barramundi and Bundaberg Brewed Drinks are market testing their ginger beer with local distributors in Hong Kong.
Queensland's natural resources have helped to produce these fine products and regional NRM plans will continue to assist in the sustainable management of natural assets.
To view the regional NRM plan that effects your local area visit the regional NRM web site and then follow the link to your region's NRM body web site.
QPWS takes mixed approach to reducing marine wildlife tragedies
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) urges boaties to take more care to protect marine wildlife.
Urangan boat harbour workers and residents of Hervey Bay recently found a loggerhead turtle injured by propeller cuts. Despite desperate efforts to save the injured sub-adult turtle, the cuts were quite deep and the turtle died.
This is just one of many sad stories that has led to stronger measures being put in place in other parts of Queensland.
In Moreton Bay, five go-slow zones have been created to reduce the number of turtle and dugong deaths and injuries from boat strikes. Two men were fined recently in the Brisbane and Cleveland Magistrates Courts for speeding in turtle and dugong go-slow areas in Moreton Bay.
A person was convicted in the Brisbane Magistrates Court for speeding in a turtle and dugong go-slow area and was fined $350 plus costs and in the Cleveland Magistrates Court a second person was fined $300.
Queensland's coast has a fantastic array of marine life year round, including several species of marine turtle, dolphins and dugong, and of course humpback whales visit for several months each year. Boaties need to remember to ‘go slow for those below', especially when boating over seagrass beds and other shallow areas.
For more information visit the EPA web site or get a brochure from QPWS by calling 4121 1800.
Anyone who finds a stranded or injured marine wildlife can call the QPWS Marine Stranding Hotline, 1300 130 372.
Whales are 'off the hook' for the time being
Australians are welcoming the news that Japan's proposal to resume commercial whaling had been defeated by the International Whaling Commission.
It was the win that anti-whaling countries had hoped for with 29 countries voting against the plan to resume commercial whaling.
Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke, a passionate supporter of the anti-whaling lobby was ‘ecstatic' about the decision but said he was feeling anxious in the lead up. "It was a very close vote, only three votes the other way and we were gone".
Mr Clarke was concerned that Japan would appeal the decision before the IWC and had greater concerns about Japan's research whaling program, he says is another pretext for whaling.
The re-introduction of commercial whaling would affect the thriving whale watching industry in Australia and these natural assets need our continued vigilance to ensure their ongoing survival.
If you live near the coast, you could check your regional NRM plan to see what is being done to protect marine natural resources.
To view the regional NRM plan that effects your local area visit the regional NRM web site and then follow the link to your region's NRM body web site.
'Digital skins' set to revolutionise marine science
A network of environmental sensors, dubbed 'digital skins', distributed throughout the marine environment will feed back real time information to scientists investigating issues like water quality and coral bleaching.
This is one of the exciting advantages of a new fibre optic link established this month between the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and James Cook University (JCU).
The ability to transfer field observations from 'digital skins', or sensors, back to the data centre as it happens is cutting edge technology that will revolutionise north Queensland's marine research capacity. The information can be immediately processed and applied to visualisation and modeling systems.
It will allow scientists to better predict climate associated events, like coral bleaching, and understand the processes in the lead up.
This system may in the future provide information to regional NRM bodies on the coast, assisting them in monitoring the effects of their catchment management activities.
For more information visit the AIMS web site.
Reduce your energy use in the office
You may think that natural resource problems are too vast and that your own actions could not make a positive difference, but they can!
You can save money and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions at work by switching off office equipment when you are not using it and turning it off at the wall overnight.
Most appliances use energy when they are on standby or even switched off at the appliance. The only way to ensure they're not using power is to turn them off at the power point.
Do you turn off the following over night?
- Computers and monitors
- Televisions
- Printers
- Hot water boilers
- Photocopiers
Your computer screen uses 66 percent of the energy required to run the whole machine. Screen savers don't save energy, it's better just to turn off your screen when you're not going to be at your desk.
For more information visit the EPA web site.
We welcome your input and feedback on this newsletter. If you have any contributions, comments or suggestions please contact Carl Glen or Shona Strachan.
To view past issues of The Bugle use this link, on the regionalNRM web site.
The Bugle is a weekly newsletter published by Strategic Policy and Regional Arrangements, Natural Resources and Mines, highlighting regional natural resource management activities around Queensland.
Last updated 05 April 2006